Page 49 of Bitten

“I told you why,” Kane murmured as he worked to free the lock.

You’re mine. He still heard that growled response in his dreams.

“You said I was yours… but then that you didn’t plan to claim me.”

Kane lifted his stare, and their eyes met. “I did. Nothing has changed.”

“Did you think about how I would survive in the aftermath of what you did?”

Kane looked away. “To be honest… I could only think about saving your life in that moment. I didn’t want you to die.”

“Living like this is better?”

Kane’s hands stilled. He said nothing.

It was then; in the quiet of the room… he could hear the beating of Kane’s heart. It pounded quickly in his chest, the sound echoing through Ralnur. A vampire heart didn’t beat… but then Kane was a Halfling. Ralnur knew little of them… other than the fact they rarely lasted more than a few days before feeding. Not twenty years.

A thirst of his own, one unlike any other came over him. Leaning in, he drew in the man’s scent, letting it fill his lungs. “You smell so good.” His body suddenly became liquid. A haze of need washed over him, that thirst his sole focus.

Kane captured his stare before dragging him closer. Ralnur spread his hands on the Halfling’s golden armor, wishing it wasn’t there. He wanted them both naked and writhing in that big bed in the corner. And he wanted to feed.

Desperately.

The sound of Kane’s heart pounded in his ears.

“You need to feed,” Kane whispered. He lifted a hand to his mouth and used his lips to pull his half-gauntlet off. Once his wrist was exposed, he lifted it to Ralnur’s mouth.

Unable to stop himself, Ralnur let his fangs sink into the soft flesh there. A moan came to his lips as he felt the first drops of blood hit his tongue. He drank deep, taking Kane’s blood into him. Visions swam inside his mind.

A younger Kane…

Reginald Kane…

A hateful father…

A family slaughtered…

A witch’s salvation…

His vengeance…

Ralnur drank all the emotion inside himself, taking a little piece of Kane with it. The pain, the torments…

But there was more.

The joys of his family.

The love of his mother.

His twin brother and their bond.

He suddenly saw all of Kane in one burst of blood and nearly fell to his knees from the power of it. Ralnur felt himself falling…yet also felt Kane there to hold him up.

Overwhelmed with emotion, he felt tears sliding down his face. When he pulled his fangs from Kane, they both lay in a heap on the floor, sprawled around one another.

“What was all that?”

“Blood visions,” Kane whispered. “You didn’t see them the last time?”

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